


strawberries and air hockey

by plastic--hearts (paperxvalentines)



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arcades, Cliche, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, soft dumb boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 01:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17777576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperxvalentines/pseuds/plastic--hearts
Summary: Hoseok was more romantic than Minhyuk, and that was a fact.But Minhyuk knew Kihyun much better than Hoseok did.





	strawberries and air hockey

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentine's day monbebes! here is my gift to all you kihyuk shippers, whether or not you have a valentine (if you do, tough luck. im ur valentine now.)
> 
> as always, thank u to my best friend ever [Victoria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekingbee) for editing this mess. ily.

“It’s cheesy, right?”

Hyungwon scoffed, giving Minhyuk a look of disbelief. “Cheesy? Minhyuk, this is the whole fucking cheesecake.”

“Okay, I know it’s called cheesecake, but does it actually have cheese in it?” Minhyuk asked, his mind already on a completely different track. “I’ve always wondered but I’ve been too scared to ask.”

Breathing deep, Hyungwon willed himself not to kill Minhyuk. Not right before his potential engagement, anyways. “Minhyuk. Focus.”

Minhyuk nodded, eyebrows furrowing comically. “Sir yes sir!” He then sat up straighter and puffed out his chest, showing off the text on his bright blue t-shirt. “So. Too cheesy?”

“Honestly, Kihyun has made it this long without killing you, but I don’t think he’s going to keep up that streak if you show him that.” Hyungwon was wearing his signature disgusted expression. “I mean… A shirt? That literally says ‘Kihyun, marry me?’ on it? This is something from a romcom. And we all know how much Kihyun hates those.”

Minhyuk deflated, pouting like a child. “I thought it was foolproof…” he mumbled, zipping up his jacket again and sighing. He thought Kihyun would see the humour in it. And besides, Kihyun  _ did _ like romcoms - he’d just rather die than let anyone know that.

“Impossible, since you’re the one who came up with it.”

“Are you calling me a  _ fool?!” _ Minhyuk’s scandalised face only made Hyungwon sigh some more.

“Come on, let’s find you a better proposal idea.”

 

It turned out that Hyungwon was useless, which wasn't at all surprising, but he did know one thing: Hoseok would know just what to do.

Unlike Hyungwon, he had  _ too many _ ideas, which only made Minhyuk wonder if he just casually daydreamed up proposals in his spare time. He had everything: the scenic walk by the river, the candlelit dinner, the fireworks by the picnic spot where Minhyuk would “get down on one knee after finishing the chocolate covered strawberries and deliver an eloquent, romantic speech to sweep Kihyun off his feet one last time.”

“I'll help you draft the speech!” Hoseok offered. Minhyuk couldn't really say no to his enthusiasm. 

 

So that’s how Minhyuk found himself standing in the living room of their apartment, wearing a blazer that was a little too tight around the shoulders and dress shoes that hadn’t seen the outside world since the first time he met Kihyun’s parents. 

“We haven’t dressed up this much for a date since, like, the third one,” Kihyun pointed out, emerging from the bedroom while still putting on earrings. “Actually, we didn’t even dress up for the first one.”

Minhyuk smiled, shrugged. “You look good, though,” he said. Kihyun was wearing a dark blue button-up shirt, so dark that it almost looked black, that complemented his deep purple hair perfectly. His pants were a little too tight to be considered formal and from his ears dangled silver earrings Minhyuk knew all too well - he had given them to him for his birthday last year. 

Kihyun gave him a look, then sighed. “I didn’t know what to wear. We’ve been going out for four years and I still don’t know what to wear when we go out.”

“You know I find you just as pretty in pyjamas as I do right now.” Minhyuk shrugged, leaning against the back of the couch as he waited for Kihyun to get his jacket and shoes. 

 

“Where are we even going?” Kihyun asked, sliding into the passenger seat of Minhyuk’s old car. The leather on the seats was peeling beyond repair, the gear shift so worn down that the numbers were impossible to decipher, but Minhyuk refused to get rid of it.  _ “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he would proudly proclaim, much to Kihyun’s dismay. _

“Somewhere fancy.”

Kihyun fixed Minhyuk with a glare. “Yeah, I figured that one out, thanks.”

Minhyuk just smiled, wide and cheeky. “You’ll see.”

 

When he pulled up into the parking lot of the restaurant, Kihyun raised his eyebrows. “This place is really fancy, Minhyuk.”

“I just wanted to do something special.”

Kihyun’s gaze softened as he turned from the restaurant to his boyfriend. “Min…”

Smiling, Minhyuk took Kihyun’s hand in his. “We don’t do this often. Or at all, really. Let’s be a little cliche tonight.”

With a soft sigh, Kihyun nodded. “Okay.”

Right before they could enter, however, Kihyun tugged on Minhyuk’s hand, stopping him in his tracks and turning him around. “Min, you know you don’t have to take me to a fancy restaurant for me to feel special, right?”

Nodding, Minhyuk stepped closer to Kihyun. “I know,” he replied, leaning forward to kiss Kihyun’s forehead. “But I thought it’d be nice to spoil you a little.”

“Spoil me?” Kihyun repeated, holding back a laugh, but Minhyuk knew better: the pink dusting Kihyun’s cheeks was a dead giveaway.

So Minhyuk took it for what it was: Kihyun being bashful. He smiled, ducked down to kiss him on the lips, then grinned. “Come on, I have a table reserved.”

  
  


The dinner, as always, was filled with banter. Minhyuk always had stories to tell about his job and the kids he taught, and tonight was no exception. They were the loudest couple there, earning themselves glares from all the other patrons dressed in suits and ties and fancy black dresses. Minhyuk made sure to leave a large tip, laughing at Kihyun when he whined, insisting on paying.

As they stepped out of the restaurant, Kihyun began heading towards the car, but Minhyuk just took his hand, pulling him towards him.

“Aren’t we going home?” Kihyun asked, confused.

Shaking his head, Minhyuk began pulling him in the direction of the river running beside the restaurant. “It’s a nice evening, let’s take a walk.”

Kihyun frowned, but adjusted his hand in Minhyuk’s grip so that their fingers would interlace. “A walk?”

“Yeah, by the river.”

Kihyun just hummed, not asking any more questions. They walked in comfortable silence, occasionally pointing out and cooing at dogs. Every now and again, Minhyuk would look over at Kihyun, who would either look back at him and grin widely, or who would be looking out towards the river pensively. 

“What are you thinking about?” Minhyuk finally asked, and Kihyun hummed, looking up at him.

“Nothing in particular,” he replied, then rested his head against Minhyuk’s shoulder for a brief moment. “This is nice. I think I like it better than the restaurant.”

“Me too,” Minhyuk confessed, and they shared a laugh. “We never really do these things.”

“We did it once, remember?” Kihyun recalled, standing up straight now. “When I asked you out. I took you to this nice restaurant-”

“Nice as in not fast food?” Minhyuk teased, elbowing Kihyun who looked up at him with an exaggerated look of disbelief.

“We were college kids! Neither of us had money!”

“I know,” Minhyuk laughed, kissing Kihyun’s cheek to appease him. “I also remember we said we’d go to much fancier ones once we had stable jobs and stuff.”

“I remember that,” Kihyun chuckled, his tone of voice fond. “We’ve probably been to one, two now counting this one.”

“They’re just so awkward! It’s nothing like the movies, with the romantic candles and the hand holding and stuff.”

“I mean, you tried to hold my hand,” Kihyun pointed out. “And then almost knocked over the candle.”

“That’s why they need LED candles,” Minhyuk lamented. He then looked up at his surroundings and realised he was almost at the place Hoseok had picked for the last part of their date. “Ki, I have one more thing for tonight.”

Raising his eyebrows, Kihyun squeezed Minhyuk’s hand. “What is it?”

“I- You’ll see. I need you to close your eyes first.”

“Close my eyes…?”

“Trust me?”

“You know I do.” Kihyun looked at Minhyuk for a moment, trying to figure out whether this was a prank or something serious. Finally, he seemed to have come to a conclusion, and nodded. “Okay,” he sighed as his eyes slipped shut.

  
  


“Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Minhyuk watched as Kihyun’s eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times to refocus on the sight in front of him. Hoseok had gone above and beyond: he had laid out their soft, red blanket that usually drapes across the back of their couch and had decorated the scene with a classic picnic basket with a bouquet of roses and tulips peeking out of it.

Kihyun looked up at Minhyuk in surprise then back down at the basket.

“Sit, Ki,” Minhyuk said, sitting down by the basket and opening it up, pulling out a brown paper bag. He opened it up and pulled out one of the red fruits, holding it up for Kihyun to see.

“Are those... Chocolate covered strawberries?”

“Yeah, you know… They’re romantic… Right?”

Kihyun looked at Minhyuk with the same look of disbelief he’d been wearing all night. “I mean… Yeah, I guess.”

Minhyuk sighed as Kihyun plopped down on the blanket beside him and took the strawberry from him. As he watched Kihyun bite into it, cheeks puffing out as he chewed, he thought about the date so far. It had gone well enough, to say the least… But it didn’t feel right. He slipped a hand into his pocket, fingers curling around the small velvet box. It wasn’t right, none of it felt right, none of it felt like  _ them. _ He didn’t want this to be the night they looked back on - a night filled with uncomfortable clothes and stupid strawberries. 

With a barely noticeable sigh, he uncurled his fingers, leaving the box in his pocket. No, he could do better. He knew he could. 

He then leaned over, bumping a shoulder against Kihyun’s. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

Swallowing his mouthful, Kihyun nodded. “Yeah, of course I did.”

Minhyuk smiled knowingly and nudged him again. “It was a bit much, right.” It wasn’t a question.

“Just a little.” Kihyun smiled, apologetic. “But I liked it! I did.” He put a hand on Minhyuk’s knee, running his thumb over Minhyuk’s whale tattoo, hidden under his dress pants. You put in a lot of effort into tonight. Thank you.”

Leaning closer, Minhyuk kissed his boyfriend softly, pulling away just long enough to grin before smacking him again, loudly and obnoxiously. 

  
  


\----

 

“You wanna go to the arcade today?”

“Arcade?” Kihyun repeated, looking up from his cup of coffee. He was standing in the kitchen, separated from Minhyuk by the counter he was sitting at.

“Yeah. You know, the one down by where Hyunwoo works.”

“Oh, that one.” Kihyun smiled. “Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up after work. When do you get out?”

“I should be done by 5 today.”

Minhyuk grinned. That was earlier than usual.

“We’re going to be the oldest people there,” Kihyun snorted, before bringing his coffee cup up to his lips to finish it.

“It’s okay. With your baby face, we’ll fit right in.”

Kihyun glared at him over the lip of his cup. Minhyuk just laughed.

  
  


The arcade was buzzing with life, which was surprising for a Monday night. Most of the games were being occupied by older teenagers, laughing loudly and yelling swear words at one another. Minhyuk managed to snag the air hockey table right before a group of boys began making their way over to it, and as the game progressed, Minhyuk was starting to act like the teenagers surrounding him. Not like he was all that different on a normal day.

“Kihyun, you’re terrible!” he yelled across the table, laughing as his boyfriend failed to deflect yet another one of his goals.

“This game sucks!” Kihyun yelled back, his voice tinged with laughter.

When the game ended (and Minhyuk won), he dragged Kihyun off towards the corner where the dance games were situated. They were both fairly good at them, but Minhyuk’s long limbs would get in the way sometimes and he’d stumble, giving Kihyun too much time to get in the lead.

When they hopped off the arrow pad, chests heaving but wide smiles on their faces identical, Minhyuk grabbed Kihyun’s wrist.

“Ki, let’s play that one!” he pointed to a classic arcade machine, sandwiched between a shooter game and a car racing game. 

“That one?!” Kihyun couldn’t believe his ears, staring at Minhyuk in disbelief. “You’ve  _ never _ wanted to play this one, ever since I beat your ass on our first date.”

“People change!” Minhyuk protested, already beginning to drag Kihyun to the machine.

Kihyun laughed. “It took you four years to change?”

“Shut up,” Minhyuk grumbled. He crouched down to insert money into the game as Kihyun took his position as player one.

“Alright, let’s play!” Minhyuk practically screeched, and Kihyun just laughed, shaking his head as he selected his character.

At first, Minhyuk did his best to play fair. He smashed the buttons relentlessly, the clicking probably annoying everyone in the room, and watched his character jump and stab recklessly at Kihyun’s calmer, much more precise character. 

But his health bar was rapidly declining and this was the last game, the tiebreaker. 

So Minhyuk did what he had to do.

He shoved Kihyun with a shoulder, just enough to make him stumble aside, hands falling away from the controls.

“Hey!” Kihyun squeaked.

A second later, he reached a hand out and fiddled with Kihyun’s joystick, pushing Kihyun’s character into his own and giving him the perfect opening for a combo bodyslam move.

“Minhyuk!” Kihyun whined, shoving him back in retaliation with much less force, barely throwing him off.

When the game ended on a scene of Kihyun’s character lying in a pool of blood, Minhyuk screeched in joy.

“Yes!” he yelled, throwing a fist into the air. “I beat the mighty Kihyun!” His hands came down to his chest then, pulling at the snap buttons on his jacket as though he was Superman revealing his costume beneath his regular clothes.

Kihyun grumbled and Minhyuk turned on his heels to face him, a wide grin on his face. “I won!”

“You cheated!” Kihyun argued. The rage was evident in his eyes as he glared at Minhyuk, but as they slipped down to the bright shirt Minhyuk was wearing, they widened. All the anger disappeared from his face as he read the text running across Minhyuk’s chest, leaving him looking surprised and confused. “Minhyuk…?”

Minhyuk just smiled, taking a breath, before repeating. “I won the game, just like I won your heart.” A hand sliding into the pocket of his jacket, he fell onto one knee a little harder than intended. Kihyun hardly breathed out a laugh at Minhyuk’s wince, too surprised to be able to make fun of him. Pulling the small box out of his pocket, Minhyuk shrugged the jacket off completely before popping the box open. “Kihyun, will you marry me?”

“Oh my god, is this why you cheated? To make sure you’d win?” Kihyun laughed, but Minhyuk knew him too well. He knew he was trying to hide his emotions behind a wall of laughter. “Yes, Minhyuk, of course I’ll marry you.”

Cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling, Minhyuk got back up on his feet and gently took Kihyun’s hand in his. Just as he was about to slip the ring onto his finger, Kihyun laughed again and pulled his hand away, laughing harder when Minhyuk looked at him, shock painting his features.

Kihyun offered him his other hand, shaking his head. “It goes on the left hand, babe.”

“I knew that,” Minhyuk mumbled, taking Kihyun’s hand once again, and slipped the ring on. It was a simple ring, a thin silver band with a single, small diamond in the middle (because Hoseok insisted that all engagement rings needed one).

He watched as Kihyun turned his hand towards himself to look at it, both of them smiling softly. “Min, this is really pretty.”

“Hoseok said the diamond was too small,” Minhyuk laughed, taking both of Kihyun’s hands into his.

Kihyun chuckled, looking up from their hands at Minhyuk. “Well, he’s a bit of a showman.”

Minhyuk snorted. “You’re telling me.”

The soft smile never leaving his face, Kihyun brought himself up on his tiptoes to kiss Minhyuk, who let go of one of his hands to wrap an arm around his waist.

“We’re really getting married,” Kihyun breathed out in disbelief when he pulled away.

“You’re stuck with me forever,” Minhyuk teased, letting go of his boyfriend - his  _ fiancé  _ \- with a final kiss.

 

Once they were back in the car, Kihyun turned to Minhyuk. “When did you get the shirt?”

“Honestly, I ordered it, like, two-three months ago.”

“Three  _ months?!” _ Kihyun exclaimed.

Minhyuk briefly looked over at him, giving him a smile in exchange for the surprised expression before focusing on the road. “Yeah. But we hadn’t really talked about getting married, so I kept it hidden away until, well, today.”

“Wow. That’s way more thought through than I’d expect of you.”

Minhyuk pouted, but it only made Kihyun laugh and it was impossible for him not to join in.

“You know,” he said between chuckles, “I was gonna ask you when we went on that date on Friday.”

“Really? The fancy restaurant date?”

“Mhm.” Minhyuk nodded, pulling into the parking lot of their apartment complex. He parked the car and turned off the engine before turning in his seat to look at Kihyun.

“Why didn’t you?” Kihyun asked, giving Minhyuk the cute, curious expression he loved so much.

Minhyuk shrugged, fiddling with his seatbelt. “I didn’t want that to be the night we look back on. It just didn’t feel right. Plus, Hoseok organised the whole thing, and I really didn’t want to give him that much power.”

Barking out a laugh, Kihyun shook his head fondly. “Well, I’m glad you decided to wait.”

“Me too.” Minhyuk smiled.

Kihyun opened his mouth to say something else, but seemingly decided against it, and raised a hand to cup Minhyuk’s face before leaning over and kissing his other cheek. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

 

Later that evening, as Minhyuk was puttering around the room getting ready for the night, Kihyun was sitting on their bed with his laptop open on his lap and his thick glasses on the bridge of his nose, face bare and clothes well-worn. Minhyuk couldn’t help but stare at him, but he was too preoccupied looking down at the ring on his hand, a soft smile on his face. Getting into his pyjamas quickly, Minhyuk clambered onto the bed and reached over to press a heavy kiss to Kihyun’s cheek, making the other man laugh.

“Minhyuk!” He grabbed his laptop as it began slipping off his lap due to the sheer force of Minhyuk. “Be careful,” he chided, but his tone was light. He saved the document and turned off his laptop before sliding it under the bedside table, and turned to look at Minhyuk. “What do you want?”

“To tell you I love you.” Minhyuk smiled and leaned over again, kissing Kihyun, exaggeratedly loud. 

“Is this what I’m going to have to deal with?”

“Mhm.” Minhyuk nodded, kissing him again. “For the rest of your life.”

Kihyun tried to act annoyed but the smile tugging at the corner of his lips was stronger than his will to fight it. “Well, I guess I can live with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!!
> 
> anyways hmu for all ur valentine (and non-valentine) related needs: [twt](https://twitter.com/kiwikihyuk) | [tumblr](http://plastic--hearts.tumblr.com/) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/plastic__hearts)


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